Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson was on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd where he talked about the team's owner in Jerry Jones and how there has not been contracts done with star players such as Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. Johnson would speak candidly about the situation the Cowboys are in and how it can negatively impact the future of the team in the coming years if they can not lock down to key weapons on the offensive side of the ball.
Johnson was the head coach of Dallas from 1989 to 1993 where they would end up winning two Super Bowls which the team has not done since. Having known Jones for a long time, the football legend would honestly say that he and the team are “in a bind” and that it was a “mistake” that the contracts were not settled earlier.
“Well he’s really in a bind,” Johnson said of the Cowboys. “Jerry's in a bind with these contracts, he's got three players that want to be the highest paid player at their position and you know he made a mistake by not resigning them earlier than what he's been doing right now.”
Jimmy Johnson talks about Dak Prescott contract situation with Cowboys
The conversation later focused on Prescott who is eligible for a contract extension where Johnson would talk about the quarterback market and how players have been getting massive contracts like Jordan Love, Tua Tagovailoa, Trevor Lawrence, and more.
“The other thing is, he's got the quarterback situation with Dak Prescott, and I think the entire league's got a problem here because if you don't have a quality quarterback, you're not going to win right, everybody understands that,” Johnson said. “But the only thing is good quarterbacks are demanding great money and they're not great quarterbacks, they're not great players, but because their contract is up they're going to be the highest paid player at that position. This has kind of escalated here for the last couple of years because every owner is desperate and they understand they've got to have a quarterback, they've got to have a quality quarterback, and the quarterback money is taking too big of a piece of the pie as far as the salary cap.”
At any rate, it remains to be seen what happens with the likes of Lamb who continues to hold out and Prescott who could become a free agent by the end of the season. The Cowboys are looking to bounce back after an early playoff exit last season as they open the 2024 campaign against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Sept. 8.